Kakashi's Happy Ending
by ReaperDuckling
Summary: "That's why I'm wondering…" He put a hand on his, making the raven look up on him in confused, curious wonder. The war was over, they had a city to rebuild, there were far too many dead on their shoulders, and this was just as good a time as any. "…will you marry me?" Part of the Happy Ending series


**AN: **This is actually what started the series. xD  
I just love KakaGai SOOO MUCH

**Warnings: **Kakashi's an asshole. Yup... that's about it

* * *

_**~5th of June, 2 weeks after the end of the fourth ninja war~**_

"Congratulations, Kakashi." Gai was holding a bouquet of wildflowers out towards him, by no doubt hand (or rather… foot) picked by himself during one of his daily handstand treks through the village earlier that day.

Kakashi gave them an amused glance, before smiling up at his friend through the mask.

"So, you don't think that I'll get out of it this time?"

The smile slipped from the raven's features, making him look strangely serious.

"No. No, I don't think so, Eternal Rival."

"That rivalry will be the death of you, Gai. How are you supposed to compete with me now that I'm Hokage?"

"I WILL FIND A WAY!" Gai boasted, fire in his eyes, bouquet crumpling in his tightly clenched hands. "There MUST be a title higher than a simple Hokage! A feudal lord or an international hero! No matter the cost; we must not sacrifice this sacred relationship of ours!"

Kakashi gave a small chuckle, then reached his arms out towards him.

"Can I have my flowers now? Before you crush them."

"Oh." He blushed and gave him the gift sheepishly, another brilliant smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Sorry."

Like so many thousand times before, they were standing at the Hokage mountain.

It was springtime in the ruins of Konoha; the birds were chirping, the sun was shining and a light breeze was running through the black tresses of Gai's hair softly.

The war was over.

Rebuilding the city was top priority now, and Kakashi had been appointed in charge of it all. He still wasn't sure what he thought of it, nor exactly what it was that he was supposed to do.

"Ne, Gai…" He felt his heart flutter nervously, and wrapped his hands harder around the flower's stems. Gai seemed oblivious.

"What is it, rival?" His grin looked impossibly wide.

"…being a Hokage will most likely be a tiresome job, and you know how lazy I am. I could probably do with all the help I can get…"

"Of course! And whenever you're in doubt you can feel safe knowing that, whatever the problem is, I will always lend you my great guidance!"

"Yeah." Kakashi smiled, knowing that even though the mask covered it up, they'd been together long enough for Gai to be able to tell. "I know."

He took a hesitant step towards the other male, before deciding against it, not wanting to scare him off, and drew one, small, white flower out of the bouquet and held it to him instead.

The smile slipped from Gai's features, being replaced by a confused frown as he crossed the distance and carefully accepted the gift, eyes set on its delicate petals.

"That's why I'm wondering…" He put a hand on his, making the raven look up on him in confused, curious wonder.

The war was over, they had a city to rebuild, there were far too many dead on their shoulders, and this was just as good a time as any.

"…will you marry me?"

_**~8**__**th**__** of June~ **_

They put up another war memorial.

A simple stone standing next to the other by the graveyard, the one from the third ninja war, with name after name after name of family and friends and coworkers carved into it with small, delicate letters.

The name at the top of the list was Tsunade's.

Her name was traced with gentle fingers by Shizune, that was sitting by the foot of the stone sobbing quietly even as Kakashi held his speech to the villagers, _his _villagers now, of how the fallen would never be forgotten, of how they were _heroes. _

He spoke pretty words of peace and new beginnings, the syllables rolling off of his tongue clumsily, and had to fight the urge to smile (_a twisted, sad smile_) when he caught himself telling everyone about the will of fire, and the springtime of youth.

Kakashi watched his people morn; watched Tsume hug Hinata to her harshly (_the older woman crying for the death of her only son, the younger for her comrades and her father_), watched the cold emptiness swim in Ino's, Shikamaru's, Chouji's and Lee's eyes, and the tears that fell freely from Naruto's cheeks (_he cried for them all, friends and strangers, deceased and those left to live with the weight of it. It made Kakashi think bitterly about how he should have been made Hokage, how much more __**worthy **__Naruto would have been_) – and it made him think about the joint shinobi army, about the pretty words of alliances and friendship, about one nation, one people.

And yet, the only names written on the stone were the ones of Konoha's own.

In death, everyone had been divided, and everyone was alone.

He thought about his meeting with his father in the afterlife, and wondered how many others there were sitting there now, staring at the flickering of flames in the darkness of limbo, awaiting their loved ones.

He wondered if Neji was one of them, waiting to tell Lee that it was alright, he'd given his life willingly but they'd always be friends, please be happy? Was Hiashi sitting next to him, waiting for Hinata and Hanabi?

He wondered if Tsunade had been reunited with Jiraiya, and if, at least in death, he'd finally found the courage to tell her how he felt.

A mental image of Shikaku, Chôza and Inoichi sitting by the fire, laughing and reminiscing about the good old days of their life's while awaiting their children and wife's struck him suddenly, making him force down a smile.

And then another, one of Rin and Obito (_a child in death. Innocent and pure, like he'd once been, before war and death and __**pain**__ had crushed and malformed him_) sitting by the fire, waiting for _**him**_, for them to be together again like they were meant to – and suddenly he knew, he just _**knew**_, that they'd be alright.

There was a wedding ring around his finger, spreading warmth throughout his entire body, and before he knew what he was doing, Kakashi found himself walking up to Shizune by the stone and putting a hand on her trembling shoulder.

He raised his head, and spoke to his people.

"We'll be alright… _They're _watching over us."

_**~5**__**th**__** of June~**_

"M-M-M-MARRY YOU?!"

It seemed like the message had finally come across.

Gai had been standing there, still as a statue, red faced and with eyes so wide that they looked like they'd bulge out of their sockets, _**for several minutes now**_, making Kakashi wonder if maybe he'd finally managed to break him…?

The thought had been oddly unnerving; the suggestion that marrying him had been bad enough to cause a complete mental break down in the other male - which meant that now, he was kind of grateful for being just-yelled-and-not-being-dropped-dead at.

"B-B-B-BUT KAKASHI…!" He screamed/stammered right into his face, splattering his spit all over it and making him wonder why he'd asked again…? "…YOU CAN NOT JUST… JUST… ASK LIKE THAT!"

…

"Why not?"

"BECAUSE IT'S NOT RIGHT!"

"Why?"

"Because you have to ask my parents for permission to vow me…"

"You don't have any parents."

"…then you have to start vowing me…"

He started counting them off on his fingers.

This was going to be one long afternoon.

"…THEN we'll start the dating process! First we'll hold hands…"

"We've been holding hands for _years, _Gai!"

"…then you'll treat me to dinner and a movie, like a real gentleman!"

"As if…"

"…After that we'll take a romantic walk through the park, and then you'll follow me home and I'll give you a quick peck on the cheek for goodbye and… WE'VE NEVER EVEN KISSED KAKASHI!"

"Well _that _can be arranged, can't it?"

Hiding his nervousness with a confident smirk, Kakashi tugged his mask down and crossed the distance between them, dropping the flowers to the ground as he did so.

"K-kashi…" Gai stuttered when the other male cupped his face gently, and started to lean in.

Kakashi's heart was pounding in his chest, he'd wanted this for _**so long **_and now, when he was about to get it, he couldn't help but mentally berate himself a little for thinking that this was going to be so hard, even though right now, they were gravitating towards each other like it was what they were born to do.

"I need you…" he whispered, right before he captured the raven's lips in a soft, delicate kiss, and everything became _perfect. _

It was quick, it was sweet and it made his stomach flutter with butterflies and his legs turn to jelly, but when he pulled away, he forced the blush off of his cheeks and the cool smirk right back onto his lips, wanting to look as confident as possible.

"So… will you marry me?"

Gai was frozen again.

The blush he'd been modeling previously was back full force, his eyes looked like they'd plop out of his head any second and _**oh shit,**__ what if he didn't like it, what if he'd reject him, __**what if he'd ruined their entire relationship?! **_

"…okay…" the other man breathed suddenly, making Kakashi's body freeze up as well, thinking that _he must have heard that wrong._

"Okay…" and there was a smile, right there, tugging at the corner of Gai's lips that made Kakashi's heart swell and sweet, blissful _relief _flood his body like a tidal wave. "…Let's get married."

_**~1**__**st**__** of June~**_

Kakashi was laying in bed, stark naked and _**glowing **_as he pretended to read Icha Icha Violence for the umpteenth time in a row, Gai laying equally naked and curled up in his embrace next to him, chattering happily.

It was strange, Kakashi thought, how even though something so horrible as the fourth ninja war, the truth about Obito and his death (_**again**__; for real this time_), and the destruction of the village had happened in such a short period of time, and yet Kakashi was so _happy, _happier then he'd been in years, as a matter of fact.

Then again, this war a lot of people that Kakashi _liked _or respected (like Tsunade, or Yamato and Anko that were still missing), had died, but none that he truly _**loved**_; he'd accepted that the real Obito had vanished there crushed under the stone too many years ago and the one he'd pulled a fistful of chidori through was _Tobi, _a shadow of the man he'd once been; and the reconstruction of the city was going better and faster than expected, especially considering that they didn't have Yamato to help them with it now.

There had even been promises of a new, adult rated bookshop being built in honor of the new Hokage, and in the back of his mind Kakashi had a vague idea of putting up a statue of Jiraiya in the city center, with a sign that read "One of the three legendary sages. Traveler of the world, hero of Konoha and writer of the Icha Icha book series."

Yeah… he thought and smiled, settling down more comfortably against the pillows. Things were looking good.

"…what do you think?"

Kakashi blinked, and turned from the book to Gai, that was gazing up at him expectedly.

"What was that?"

"You weren't listening?!" He looked absolutely devastated.

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes.  
"I was reading."

"No you weren't!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because that wasn't your reading face – that was your "I'm thinking about something that makes me really, really happy"-face, and then of course I believed that it must be our oncoming wedding!"

Oh yeah… the wedding.

He cringed uncomfortably where he lay, immediately feeling less optimistic about the future and life itself as a matter of fact at the thought of next spring, and the commitment he was about to make.

Kakashi _**really **_wasn't a commitment kind of guy… Just the _**thought **_of settling down with Gai, like _**forever-forever**_, was enough to send a cold chill through his body, and yet… _**he'd **_been the one that asked.

Why had he asked again?

It had seemed like a good enough idea at the time.

Well, to start with, it wasn't like he and Gai hadn't spent most of their life's together already; he was the only person that had truly been with it through it _**all **_with Kakashi, and supported him all the way; and, truly, most importantly, Kakashi think he asked him because… well…

He loved him.

He'd loved him for _**years**_, in secret, ashamed and too afraid to lose him to tell him what he really felt; and when it had been announced that he was going to be Hokage, for real this time, the first thing that had crossed his mind was how much he wanted Gai to stand beside him, like he'd seen Kushina stand beside Minato, and help him through the chaos of ruling a village and people in ruins.

But now… _**now **_Gai was talking wedding preparations, he was talking dates (1st of April, to celebrate the coming of spring; and oh how much Kakashi just wanted to grab his few possessions and _**run **_once he'd announced it, feeling the metaphorical snares of _**commitment **_tie around his throat), he was talking wedding cakes and guest lists and _**bloody flower arrangements!**_

In the beginning, whenever he'd start his rambling and Kakashi felt the panic building inside of him, he'd make some lame excuse and run off.

After Gai had realized what he was doing however and gave him a long angry speech that ended in tears on his side, a little guilt on Kakashi's and _**awesome **_apology sex to round it all off; he'd started a new tactic – simply to drift off and ignore him.

Of course, this didn't always work out the way it should.

Like now for example.

Looking through the room for a proper excuse, he saw the clock and gave himself a mental applaud.

"Ah, forgive me, Gai…!" He disentangled himself from his fiancé's arms, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before rising to dress himself. "…It seems that I am 40 minutes late to my meeting with Shikamaru-san!"  
He gave his lover a sheepish smile, and quickly swallowed the guilt that threatened to erupt at the sight of his disappointed face.

"We'll see each other tonight, ne?"  
And then, he was gone with a flash that would have made his sensei jealous.

_**~22**__**nd**__** of June~**_

She'd found him by the dressing rooms together with an exhausted looking employee, that took the first chance she got to _**run **_once she'd realized that Tenten and Gai knew each other and someone else could work as his adviser.

Now she'd been sitting in that chair for thirty minutes, watching him run in and out of that stupid dressing room in a number of equally stupid suits and (once) dresses like a Duracell bunny on a sugar overload, her ass was hurting like a _**bitch **_and Gai-sensei simply _**refused **_to listen to what she had to say!

"So? What do you think of this one?" He asked, a winning smile on his lips as he practically _danced _out of the dressing room, wearing a bright green suit with a stupid orange tie.

She sighed.  
"Why isn't Kakashi-sensei here doing it with you?"

"Because my beloved Eternal Rival is busy being a Hokage, of course! He has promised me to join me this weekend!"

"Then why do you bother doing this _**before the weekend**_?"

"Because last weekend he promised to go to the wedding planner with me, but ended up busy with Hokage business! And the weekend before that, he missed our trip to the Yamanaka flower shop, and the weekend before that…"

"I get it, I get it…!" She sighed again, louder this time, not allowing herself to feel worried for her sensei (because the way Gai was sounding, it didn't seem like Kakashi wantedto get married at all!). "…but I don't have time for this, sensei! I came here to talk to you about… WILL YOU LISTEN TO ME?!"

He was admiring himself in the mirror, giving his reflection a flirty wink.  
At the sound of her scream, he turned around and gave her a smile.

"Looking good, eh?"

"No!"  
"No? Then I better try another one…"

"NO! I didn't mean… NO!"

He disappeared back into the dressing room and she followed him to stand by the entrance.

"Gai-sensei, you _**have **_to talk to Lee! He hasn't been himself since the war! He just keeps staring at that stupid memorial all the time, he doesn't even train anymore and I'm not sure if he's eating properly! He won't listen to me, but I'm _**sure **_that he'll listen to you, if only you'd talk to him!"

Silence.

"Gai-sensei PLEASE!"

"Our adorable Lee is going through a rough time right now, Tenten…" The sullen reply came from the other side of the curtain. "…he needs some time alone, to think about what's important. The best thing to do now is just leave him and-"  
"NO!" She screamed. There were tears in her eyes, her heart was beating madly and she could feel herself tremble. Why wouldn't he _**listen?! **_"You're just… You're just too caught up in your own stupid wedding; you've stopped caring about everything else! Don't you see?! Kakashi-sensei doesn't even seem to care that much about you, but Lee _**loves **_you! He looks up to you, sees you as a father, but now when he _**really needs you**_, you're letting him down because of your own selfishness! You _**have to talk with him**_, Gai-sensei, or I will _**NEVER FORGIVE YOU!**_"

She was panting heavily, clutching her fists so tightly together it _**hurt**_, fighting the tears that threatened to fall.

She'd gone too far, she knew.

That didn't mean that she'd apologize, though.

"Listen, Tenten. Lee needs the solitude…"

"NO!"

She ran.

_**~31**__**st**__** of July~**_

"Kakashi…"

He put the book down from his face briefly to show that he was listening.

Gai was sitting in front of him at their breakfast table, a strange, nervous look on his face.

He put the book back up again.

"Kakashi. Why did you ask me to marry you?"

The question surprised him enough to turn to his fiancé completely.

What was this all of a sudden…?

"Come again?"

"I asked you…" Gai let out a heavy sigh, and turned to look at the floor. "…_**why **_you're marrying me, Kakashi?"

He stared at him some more, at a complete loss of words.

This was ridiculous!

He'd been asked this question a thousand times already, only by other people – he'd been asked by his students, he'd been asked by Shizune, he'd been asked by Kurenai, Sasuke, Genma and even Ibiki that usually kept his doubts to himself!

Never to mention that he'd asked _**himself **_a million times – and the answer had always been the same, regardless of who was asking.

He loved him.

It was just as simple as that.

He loved him.

Then why couldn't he bring himself to say it now, when Gai was the one asking?

"I don't know…" he finally sighed, bringing the book back to his face to pretend to read. "…it seemed like a good enough idea at the time."

Gai didn't seem to have an answer to that.

_**~2**__**nd**__** of September~**_

It was always summer in heaven.

There were no clouds in the skies, light breezes always swept in at the precise right moments, the forests surrounding Konoha were always green and the fields would never wither.  
When you wanted to be alone, no one would be around.

When you felt like some company, the city streets would fill with friendly faces.

In Obito's heaven, there was no pain, no war, no tears.

Only sweet summer breezes running through fields of waist high grass and Rin's brown hair; her smile, her soft fingers tracing his face as she wiped dirt from it, not blood, never blood.

In Obito's heaven, he was a child again, unscarred, unbroken, and filled with love of life, his friends and his Rin.

"Obito-kun…" she'd whisper every time the dark haired boy fell asleep in her arms, and Kakashi would wake up _**knowing**_ that his old friend had finally found peace, that, in death, he'd finally gotten the paradise he'd always dreamed about.

Tonight was the same.

One second he was watching his childhood friends, the world was bright and beautiful, and then he opened his eyes to darkness.

It was the middle of the night and Gai was laying sprawled out beside him, snoring loudly.

Kakashi watched him for a couple of minutes, mind swimming with thoughts, before he crawled up to spoon him and bury his face in the crook of the other males neck, inhaling the smell of dirt and sweat and _**life **_that radiated from his lover.

He felt the sleeping man mold up against the outline of his body and smiled at the thought of how they always seemed to fit into each other just right.

"Gai…" he breathed, voice thick with love. "Gai." Kakashi closed his eyes, letting the sound of the raven's breathing lull him to sleep slowly, to go back to his dreams about summers that never ended and his friend's smiles.

_**~1**__**st**__** of April~ **_

Since neither one of them considered themselves to be very religious, they'd decided upon a traditional western wedding, because of the simple fact that Christianity over the years had become the religion most supportive of gay marriage.

This meant that they were in a church; they were both wearing matching, black suits that looked surprisingly good considering the fact that Gai had been the one to pick them out; Lee was the best man; Sakura, Tenten, Ino and Hinata were bridesmaids; and afterwards, everyone would go celebrating with a party planned meticulously from start to finish by Gai and food complementary of Ichiraku ramen.

Surprisingly, Kakashi wasn't feeling that nervous standing there, by the altar, looking at his soon-to-be-husband.

Truth be told he wasn't feeling too giddy about it either, just the same old, relaxed, slightly bored feeling he always got whenever he'd been too long away from one of his Icha Icha books – because really, he'd survived living alone with Gai for almost a year now! How much different could being married to him be?

"…do you, Kakashi Hatake, take Gai Mighto for your husband?"

He smiled at the dark haired male.  
"Yes."

The word actually managed to send a small thrill down his spine.

"And do you, Gai Mighto, take Kakashi Hatake for your husband?"

As Gai opened his mouth, big and loud as usual, Kakashi's heart did a small flip of happiness in his chest.

But no words came out.

Suddenly feeling worried, Kakashi tried to catch Gai's eyes, but the other male only looked away and there was a feeling there, a feeling as if the man before him was disappearing into his own mind that made the Hokage feel very uncomfortable.

"Gai…?" He asked, making him look up at him finally, and the _**doubt **_he saw twirling in those big dark orbs made Kakashi's heart stop in his chest.

"I…" He stuttered. "…I can't…" He looked down at the floor. "I can't do this."

"Gai!" Kakashi tried to grab his shoulder, but he was too quick for him.

Gai turned around and started running out of the church, past Lee and the bridesmaids and the rows after rows of wedding guest, to finally disappear behind the heavy oak doors.

Kakashi watched him leave, felt himself slip down onto his knees, felt the tears pricking at the corner or his eyes, felt the world crumble and _**break. **_

_**~5**__**th**__** of April~**_

Gai gave a heavy sigh.

"You can't keep me here forever."

Kakashi only shrugged, and flipped a page in his book.

"Of course I can. I'm the Hokage, remember?"

His nonchalance made a flash of anger run through the raven.

"I'm an ANBU-class shinobi! If it had been anyone else my rank asking for this mission, you would have granted it to them in a second!"

"Perhaps…" another page flip. Gai felt like running up to him and toss the damned thing out of the window. "…but it's not. Now, you're the one asking, and I won't let you leave this village until you…"

He heard Kakashi's voice stuck in his throat, knew him well enough to understand that even though he tried to hide it, he was upset, but couldn't find it in himself to care.

Suddenly, the thought of becoming a missing nin didn't seem too bad.

"I will not be locked up in here like some prisoner."

Slowly, the Hokage put down the book and looked at him, a fake smile plastered on his face.

"You will if I say so."

Gai narrowed his eyes, flexed his muscle's, felt adrenalin pump in his veins and the urge to jump over that table and _**punch **_that smug ass face so hard it would send him flying through the wall – but deflated.

Suddenly, he was feeling _**so tired**_, he just wanted to go home and sleep the rest of his life out, he was frustrated, confused and heartbroken - he didn't have the _**energy **_to solve this mess out!

"I'm moving." he finally spoke, and tried to pretend not to see the hurt in Kakashi's eyes, or the guilt it made him feel. "I'll be staying with Lee for a while, until you…"

This time, he was the one that couldn't finish his sentence.

Truth be told, he wasn't entire sure what to say.

Instead, he turned around and walked out of the office.

"Gai…"

He didn't stay to listen this time either.

_**~9**__**th**__** of April~ **_

"I just don't understand!" Kakashi wailed drunkenly. "What did I do _**wrong?!**_"

He, Naruto and Sakura were sitting at a bar (apparently they'd go here every Friday, and this night he'd invited himself along to complain about his current single life. That fact alone was probably more than enough to make anyone question his abilities as their teacher). Sakura was on his right side, Naruto on his left, and even though they'd been there for two hours he was the only one drinking.

"Well…" Naruto began thoughtfully. "When _**I **_do something that makes Sai angry, I usually don't understand why either! And then he tries to explain it to me, and most often I don't get it then either, so then we just end up having sex instead and then he gets happy and goes back to making me ramen again!"

"Ugh…" Kakashi groaned, and took another shot of sake. "I did _**not **_need those mental images…"

"You don't think he gets pissed at you because you make him cook your food all the time?" Sakura asked, annoyed, making the blond frown.

"No? Why would he be pissed at that? I love his food!"

"That's NOT the point Naruto! The point is-!"

"WHY DOES GAI HATE ME?!" Kakashi wailed and face-palmed the table.

His students looked at each other, mentally promising one another to _**never **_bring their sensei drinking again, and then turned back to him.

"Really? You don't know?" Sakura asked him critically, making him look up at her slowly. "Kakashi, you may not have noticed this, but up until your little break down at the marriage, the entire village thought that the only reason you agreed to marry Gai was for some kind of a stupid joke or a challenge or…"

"You don't base marriages on challenges!"

"Yes well, you kind of made it seem like you did. You didn't help anything with the planning, you spent most of your days _**avoiding **_spending time with Gai, never showed any affection for him in public and… well… you're not exactly known for being the commitment kind of guy, Kakashi-sensei…"

Slowly, realization dawned on him, together with a sinking feeling of guilt in his gut.

It was true…

The problem wasn't that Gai didn't love him anymore; the problem was that Kakashi never showedhim how important he really was to him!

All this time, he'd been walking around like a jerk, just _**assuming **_that the other male would always stay by his side because that's what he'd always done!

As a matter of fact, when thinking back, Kakashi couldn't remember a single time when he'd actually told Gai the truth; that he loved him, and that he always would, he knew that now.

That's probably what Gai had been thinking about too, when standing there at the altar, but Kakashi had been too blind to see it, he'd thought that it was implied, that it was so obvious that it didn't even need to be spoken.

He groaned.

He _**really **_needed to do something about this.

_**~11**__**th**__** of April~**_

Gai was standing up at the Hokage mountain, just like Kakashi knew he would, because that's where the green clad male always went when he needed to think.

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and the last winter snow had just melted away to give room for spring's earliest flowers; Pink Moss, Wisteria and Plum Blossoms.  
A light, cold breeze swept through the air, bringing with it a wave of cherry blossoms that danced through the tresses of Gai's dark hair.

The sight looked so strangely vulnerable and feminine that Kakashi almost forgot about the seriousness of the situation and the chill in the other male's eyes.

It made him think about last summer, when he'd just been appointed Hokage and had summoned up the courage to ask Gai to marry him.

The memory made him feel strangely sad.

Everything had seemed so simple then; rebuild the village, marry Gai, live happily ever after.

Looking back, he frowned at his own stupidity.

What a fool he'd been.

Kakashi walked up to Gai slowly, letting him know that he was coming and giving him some time to prepare for it (or run away if he'd rather do that).

His heart was beating harder in his chest than he could ever remember it doing before, and the tight knot that had been growing in the pit of his stomach ever since he'd been left by the altar grew tighter and tighter the closer to his ex he came.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he actually kind of wished that Gai would run away, or scream at him a little, or even punch him – it's only what he deserved anyway!

But he didn't.

A couple of meters away from him, Kakashi stopped, and tried to catch his eyes.

He wouldn't look at him.

The observation made Kakashi sigh and clench his hands together in a desperate attempt to keep himself from trembling.

"I…" he began, but the words failed him. He tried again. "I know why you did it now. I'm sorry, I…" Kakashi gave out a strangled laugh. "…why did everything become so messed up? I thought you always knew that I… I love you, Gai." Finally, Gai turned to look at him, his dark eyes wide and chocked. Kakashi smiled. "Why are you looking so surprised? I asked you to marry me, didn't I?"

Gai narrowed his eyes, blushed and turned to stare at the ground again.

Slowly, hesitantly, Kakashi took one more step closer to him.

"I know I screwed up. I've treated you so wrong, even from the beginning and that's why, with your permission…" his heart started gaining speed again. "…that's why I will vow you, Mighto Gai..." he said, crossed the distance between them and took his hand in his. He searched for eye contact, got it, and smiled. "...and this time, I'll do it right."

Slowly, Gai smiled back.


End file.
